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Vultures' Picnic: In Pursuit Of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates, And High-Finance Carnivores (2011)

by Greg Palast(Favorite Author)

4.22 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0525952071 (ISBN13: 9780525952077)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Dutton Adult

review 1: From the author of Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Vultures’ Picnic utilizes the same undercover investigative storytelling to entrap the reader in the quest to unearth the secrets of Big Oil. Greg Palast and his team visit the corners of the world, where BP, Chevron and Shell have left their petroleum prints on the land and the people. Palast shares with us his findings, his papers and his personality and basically tells you everything you thought you know about the Deepwater Horizon spill is wrong. His text is engaging and exiting, and anyone with a layman’s grip of corporate politics and finance will understand it. By following his trail, one can see what’s really behind the oil elite’s mask and what has motivated them to act the way they ha... moreve over the decades. Palast himself is an imposing figure, working tirelessly with his crew, and sifting through folders and binders of business jargon to see what few have ever seen. His own anecdotes are peppered throughout the book to offer temporary diversions from his well-intended inquiry so the reader can really know what’s going on in his mind along with his backstory. The unforgettable people he meets all share all fall into one dichotomy: they have either been harmed by Big Oil and are attempting to speak out, or they work with Big Oil and are indifferent to the former group’s plight. Confidential or not, if it has anything to do with white-collar greed, bribery or corruption, the zealous BBC journalist has gotten his hands on it. I only picked up this book for the cover, which looks near-amazing and commences the metaphor he uses to describe the baddies involved. Once Palast captures a Vulture or a Pig, he has them give him the scoop on Big Oil’s activity which solidifies his own independent research. There are times when nothing really important happens and the investigation thins. Likewise, a few financial and legal terms did over my head, but overall Vultures’ Picnic is a good book. I give it a 7.5/10 based on its near-fluid, informational composition, thrilling intrigue and almost fictional air. I recommend you pick this up if you want to know what’s really happening at the top.
review 2: The book covers a lot of ground right from the infamous BP Gulf Oil spill, to the purchase of sovereign debt for a fraction of their value only to assert champertous claims later. While the author makes no pretense of objectivism and resorts to primary often anonymous sources, the reason is understandable and he does build a plausible narrative. For those not liking Yankee speak, the book will be a pain to read, but for everyone else, a great book less

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